Gastro outbreak hits Voyager of the Seas passengers in Sydney Harbour

BOARDING of the mega liner Voyager of the Seas was thrown into chaos yesterday following an outbreak of a gastrointestinal illness thought to be norovirus.

Some 135 passengers already aboard the ship, which arrived from New Zealand on Thursday, were struck by the illness, along with eight staff, a spokeswoman confirmed, adding this was about 4 per cent of the ship's guests.

"Those affected by the short-lived illness have responded well to over the counter medication administered on board the ship"' Royal Carribbean said in a statement late yesterday.

Queues at the Overseas Passenger Terminal in Circular Quay stretched hundred of metres as frustrated new passengers were kept waiting for hours.

The company tried to distance yesterday's long boarding delays from the illness outbreak, saying the two were unrelated. This contradicted earlier advice given in writing to boarding passengers.

A spokeswoman for the ship's owners Royal Caribbean said the queues winding around Circular Quay were mostly the result of thousands of new passengers disregarding allocated staggered boarding times.

A statement issued yesterday afternoon said thousands of new passengers for an overnight cruise had instead arrived early and en masse, in the hope of getting aboard ahead of their allocated time.

Earlier in the day, however, boarding passengers were given a statement which gave the norovirus outbreak as the reason for the delay in boarding.

Passengers were asked to fill out forms revealing whether they had recently suffered from gastro or flu-like symptoms.

Those who ticked `yes' were taken aside for medical check ups.

"In an abundance of caution, we are conducting some enhanced cleaning onboard the ship and within the cruise terminal ... To help prevent any illness from affecting your cruise," said a statement from owners Royal Caribbean.

But many passengers said they were not informed of the outbreak or any other the reason for the delay.

Passenger Hayley Walls of Brisbane, who was travelling with a friend, said she wasn't informed about the situation.

"Nobody said anything to us about it, we didn't receive any paper informing us either," she said.

"I wondered what was going on, why they were cleaning so much."

She said they had waited for an hour and a half in the line, without the delay being explained.

Another passenger, Anne, of Newcastle, also said she wasn't informed.

"Nobody said anything about it, I had no idea. People were complaining about the long line and the wait for rooms to be ready," she said.

"I'll make sure to wash my hands a lot."

Passengers were unable to enter their cabins upon boarding and were instead directed to the Windjammer restaurant.

Rooms that were meant to be ready at 1pm were closed for cleaning until 4pm.

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Some in the long queues winding around Circular Quay became increasingly frustrated. Staff were handing out information sheets explaining the gastro breakout, which Royal Caribbean said had been limited to "a small percentage of guests."

Guests on board who began to feel unusual after boarding today were offered a free consultation at the medical centre.

Those who felt uncomfortable cruising following the gastro scare were offered replacement cruises at a later date.

Voyager of the Seas, the largest mega liner to call Australia home, cruised into Sydney Harbour on Thursday night for her debut season.